Welcome to the Other Side!
by JP McClendon
Summary: In the world of Atmosfear, this is what happens to you when you die. Please R&R! COMPLETE.


**Author's note:** This is a work of fanfiction. I in no way claim to own the rights to Atmosfear. I in no way am making any money from this story. That said, enjoy.

 **Welcome To the Other Side!**

In an instant there was pain. Not a violent pain, at least not for you. No, in fact your pain was serene and almost welcome. The next thing you know, you are in a foggy graveyard on a brightly lit night with a full moon and countless stars in the sky. Dozens of other people are all around you. Some are old, others are young. Some look whole, others look mangled. They all look as confused as you do. "Where am I?" you wonder to yourself. "What is this place? I was somewhere else only a moment ago. But where? I can't seem to remember."

Then, out of the darkness, a powerful voice booms. "Stop!" it says. "Listen to me! You have precious little time and I do not repeat myself!"

Looking about, you see up in the sky the terrifying face of a man. His eyes, they glow with an eerie light. Then he fades from view in the sky and reappears before you all next to a large capped stone well that is easily eight feet across. The man is dressed in gray robes and has his head covered by a hood. His clothing reminds you of those peasant villagers you always saw in those movies that were set a few centuries in the past. Though he appears to be just a simple man, someone who dresses in all those movies set in the past like a peasant, he seems fearsome and foreboding. It's those eyes. Those unblinking eyes. Those eyes that seem to look straight through you and into your soul.

"You are now on the Other Side!" the man booms. His voice is impossibly loud. "What is the Other Side you ask? Simple. The Other Side is where the not-too-saintly and the not-too-evil end up. More simply put, you are all dead!"

His words hit you like a sledgehammer to the chest. For a few moments, you and several others around you murmur in disbelief and denial.

"Silence!" the man booms again. "I did not give any of you permission to speak! I was the one speaking! When I speak, you all shut up! You all shut up and you listen! You all listen because I am, the Gatekeeper! I am the one in charge here! The Other Side is my domain! I have rules here that you must follow for the entire duration of stay! Heed these rules, and your time here will simply be miserable. But if you break even one of my rules, your time here will become unbearable. I like it when sniveling maggots such as yourselves break my rules, because then I get to punish you and imprison you inside the Black Hole. What is the Black Hole, you ask? Simple! It is nothing. Just as you are all nothing! Do you know what I like better than maggots who break my rules? No? Simple! The only thing I like better than rule-breaking maggots are maggots who obey all of my rules! Maggots who obey my rules make my life easier, and I like it when my life is easy. Do yourselves all a favor and obey my rules. What are my rules, you ask? You'll find out in time. But for now, you all have a decision to make. It is not a decision you should make lightly. No. That's because this decision will determine how you spend your time here on the Other Side. It will determine your friends, your enemies, and the very role you will play. It is time to choose your Harbinger! Who are the Harbingers, you ask? You ask a lot of questions. But I shall answer you. The Harbingers are the ruling elite of the Other Side. Each of them have a role. Each of them have qualities. Qualities they look for in others, qualities they desire in others. Once you find the Harbinger you wish to serve, that decision is final, so don't make a choice you're going to regret."

The Gatekeeper fades away into the night and the Harbingers all appear surrounding that capped well. Each of them is fearsome and frightening, and each for a different reason. For the next few hours you listen to them all talk, taking it in turn one-by-one in alphabetical order. Given their attitudes towards one another during their talks, you figure that alphabetical order was probably the fairest way, and the way that wouldn't easily provoke animosity between them. Each of them has their ups and downs. No one choice is perfect. After they've all had their turn, they look at you all expectantly. Do you really have to make your choice right now? Apparently so. You feel that some of the choices are absolutely not for you, so you disregard those outright. Some of the choices sound interesting, but you're not quite sold on them. Then there are the choices that seem to fit the person you are, or rather were. Time seems to stand still while you ponder your choice. Some of those around you make their decision and move to stand by the Harbinger they have chosen. Finally, you make your choice and your fate is sealed. You move near the Harbinger you have chosen and wait for those who still haven't chosen to make up their minds. The whole encounter is not a quick one, but eventually everyone makes their choice.

"Follow me to your new home," says your Harbinger. "It is my Province. You'll like it there."

Your journey to your new home from the Well of Fears is short. Once you cross the border into the the Province of your Harbinger, you begin to feel yourself changing, both physically and mentally. It doesn't take long for your transformation to be complete. Your unlife has begun. You are now a Numbskull of a Harbinger.

"Welcome to the Other Side!"

 **The Beginning.**


End file.
